Queertrons, part deux

There I was, all set to flip the switch to check the overhead panel lighting in the Embraer I’ve been playing with for the last couple of days. I’d already charged the battery back up and installed it into its little space in the nose, the ground support guys fixed the power cart for me, and Fred “Mr. Wizard” T brought the last repaired panel down from his Lil’ Shop o’ Miracles. All was in readiness and I was ready to move on to the next item on the agenda.

Power on, panel lights to bright, and only two of the three panels light up. And, to add insult to injury, one of the panels that worked yesterday isn’t working now. Damn the bad luck. Deep breath. And another. I pull the panels back off the overhead and get out the handy dandy multimeter. Interesting, there’s voltage at the light’s connections on each of the panels, and continuity at each of the pin side of the sockets…. Gotta be the pins just aren’t making contact when the panel’s are installed. How to make this work….hmmmmm.

The little light bulb (no pun intended) comes on. I’ll take the lamp assembly off the panels, install them first and make sure they work, then put the faceplate over the lamps. Easy-schmeezy.